Cova de Can Vinardell

A cave with speleothems near the Mare de Déu de les Agulles (Montagut i Oix), with a labyrinthine chamber, a ramp gallery and a total passage of 48 m.

Montagut i Oix • Garrotxa 48m 12m

EspeleoWorld

A cave with speleothems near the Mare de Déu de les Agulles (Montagut i Oix), with a labyrinthine chamber, a ramp gallery and a total passage of 48 m.

Montagut i Oix · Garrotxa

Length: 48 m · Depth: 12 m

Updated record

https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/cova-de-ca-l-agusti

Information can change. Always verify coordinates, access, weather, and cave conditions before setting out.

Topographic map of the main entrance — Main entrance · ICGC topographic map

A cave with speleothems near the Mare de Déu de les Agulles (Montagut i Oix), with a labyrinthine chamber, a ramp gallery and a total passage of 48 m.

Characteristics

Type: Cave
Municipality: Montagut i Oix
Region: Garrotxa
Unit: Alta Garrotxa
Length: 48 meters
Depth: 12 meters
Major Unit: Prepirineu
Lithology: Limestone
Updated on EspeleoÍndex: January 3, 2026

Location

It is located below the chapel of the Mare de Déu de les Agulles, very close to and below the collet de la Caseta, on the right hydrographic slope of La Clota.

Approximate coordinates without much precision.

The authors of the record specify that: The cave is difficult to locate. We reached it thanks to being accompanied to the entrance by local people - l'Albert Sancho and l'Albert Sala, who live in Sant Joan les Fonts - on the condition of not giving many clues about its location. In fulfilment of this commitment, we will not give the exact coordinates nor provide details of its location.

Entrances

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Can Vinardell, Cova de
Elevation: 771 m
42.303978, 2.621086
UTM 31T (ETRS89) 468769 4683597
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Topographic

Cova de Can Vinardell - Topography, Montagut i Oix, Garrotxa

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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Photos

Cova de Can Vinardell - Photo, Montagut i Oix, Garrotxa

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Espeleoindex · CC BY-NC 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ · Image © its author.

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Description

Morphology

The entrance is trapezoidal in shape, with a width of the order of one metre. We have to enter crouching, but it immediately widens and we can stand upright.

Broadly speaking, we can describe the cavity as a chamber of rather irregular outline, with a descending slope and a rather modest ceiling height. The chamber, very rich in speleothems, is subdivided by a series of stalagmitic masses and alignments of columns that give rise to small rooms and passages of labyrinthine appearance. We can distinguish two well-defined small rooms, the first at the entrance and the second further towards the back, both of great beauty but especially the second.

Speleothems

The chamber is very rich in speleothems, subdivided by stalagmitic masses and alignments of columns that give rise to small rooms and passages of labyrinthine appearance.

Progression

From this a ramp gallery starts, which after 9 m ends at the lowest point of the cavity -12 m. The total passage reaches 48 m.

History

The cave has long been known to local people and also to some local hikers, but in general it is very little known.

Visited on the days 1-4-1973; 8-3-1975 and 21-11-1976 by Oleguer Escolà and others, for biospeleological purposes. Although the only data we knew were from oral information provided by our colleague Escolà that had almost been erased from his memory.

Be that as it may, the cavity appears on the map of Editorial Alpina since the edition of the year 1973, both in the cartography and in the catalogue included in the guide that accompanies the map. The name that appears is 'cova de Ca l'Agustí o d'en Vinyeta'. The cave symbol appears labelled on the cartography at a point not very far from the Mare de Déu de les Agulles. And, since then, this situation has remained unchanged until the most recent editions of the Alta Garrotxa map of Editorial Alpina.

It is not until 28 January 2025 that colleagues Cardona, Cuenca and Samarra, accompanied by l'Albert Sancho and l'Albert Sala, are able to explore the cavity and carry out the cataloguing work.

Bio

Coleoptera:

Parvospeonomus delarouzeei (Fairmaire, 1860) Oleguer Escolà 21-XI-1976

Carabus rutilans Oleguer Escolà 1-IV-1973

Scorpions:

Belisarius xambeui Oleguer Escolà 8-III-1975

Isopods:

Cylisticus esterelanus Oleguer Escolà 21-XI-1976

Gastropods:

Discus rotundatus Oleguer Escolà 21-XI-1976

Helicodonta obvoluta id.

Oxychilusdraparnaudi id.

Sandablia cylindrica id.

Vitrea crystallina id.

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Bibliography

Borràs, J.; Miñarro, J.M.; Talavera, F.(1980).-'el Ripollès, la Garrotxa i l'Alt Empordà'. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol.4): 1-296. Ed Políglota. Barcelona.

Escolà Boada, Oleguer; Bellés i Ros, Xavier.(1984).-'Distribució geogràfica dels Speonomus del subgènere Parvospeonomus (Col. Catopidae Bathysciinae) al vessant meridional dels Pirineus'. III Sessió Conjunta d'Entomologia, pp. 19-28.

Miret, Francesc i García, Martí et alt.(1999).-Coves de l'Alta Garrotxa pp:1-108. GEB. Badalona.

Valles, Jordi de (2009).-'Berguedà, Cerdanya, Garrotxa, Ripollès'. Catàleg Espeleològic de Catalunya (vol.3):1-381. ECG/FCE.

Vives, Eduard. (1981).-'Belisarius xambuei E. Simon, l'escorpí de les coves catalanes'. SIS (8):8-13. SIS-CET. Terrassa.

Totes les dades, topografía i fotografies han estat extretes del web: geb.cat (del Grup d'Espeleologia de Badalona). Apunt del 10-2-2025. Dades: Ferran Cardona (ECM Barcelonès), Josep Cuenca i Xavier Samarra (GE Badalona)